Promise
by dormiralabelleetoiles
Summary: AU. Gale and Madge are reaped for the 74th Hunger Games and Katniss misses him more than she could've imagined. Galeniss R&R


**A/N: This idea for story came to me when Katniss was having thoughts about Gale and she mentioned how she would feel like if he and Madge were reaped for the Hunger Games... so, enjoy! Or at least try to...**

**Edit: 17/9/12 (minor, grammatical errors fixed)**

* * *

><p>"Ladies First!" Effie Trinket chirped as she scuttled over to the large bowl half-full with strips of paper with girls' names on. I prayed for my safety, Gale's safety, Gale's safety, Gale's safety, my safety... and only just occurred to me that if the odds were not in my favour, I would need to pray for Prim's safety too, despite the fact the chance of her being picked were so incredibly low... almost none.<p>

"Madge Undersee!" Effie cried, holding the piece of paper at the tips of her fingers. My eyes quickly darted over to aforementioned girl who had turned immediately pale. Of course, she hadn't been expecting this. Her name was in the reaping bowl, what, six times? Neither had her father even considered his daughter being chosen for the Hunger Games. I saw how his face lost colour as he sat in front of the justice building, and then he closed his eyes, wishing for this nightmare to be over.

Slowly Madge made her way up towards the stage. I didn't know what to feel. I did talk to Madge at school and things, but was she really a friend? I felt horribly cruel, when I realised I felt overly relieved Prim nor I had been chosen. We were safe for another year, another year of being at District 12, another year with-

"Gale Hawthorne!"

I didn't realise what happened immediately. My train of thought collided with reality after a few seconds and then something that's mass would surely break a scale dropped in my stomach. Forty-two times Gale's name was in those thousands of slips and Effie and chosen one of his. Some may say I shouldn't have been so surprised, after all, I doubted any boy in District 12 or perhaps Panem, had more slips than him in the reaping ball.

His demeanour was completely different Madge's, who from what I could see was now crying with the same flushed cheeks as her father. He walked up towards the stage without a crease of worry flashing across his face, not even a glimmer of apprehension. Strong as steel.

Effie didn't bother asking for volunteers. No one ever did. Rory was eligible for volunteering but I'm sure Gale made him promise that if he was chosen, not to volunteer for him. If I could see his face, I would expect pain, resist and sorrow as he was so torn by his willingness to volunteer for his brother, yet also willing to obey said brother's orders. Fortunately, he didn't make a sound resembling eagerness to take his place.

"Our tributes, Gale Hawthorne and Madge Undersee!" Effie Trinket declared in her irritating Capitol accent. "May your odds be ever in your favour!"

People began to disperse – I hurried to find Prim- before rushing towards the Justice Building.

* * *

><p>Prim held my hand tightly as I waited for Gale to bid goodbye to his family who were all in tears, the drops of moisture hanging off their jaws before being released from the tenuous holds and onto the floor. They had no need to show strength and pride as the Capitol were not going to be focusing on them. Gale was a different matter, and I noticed he was holding his tears in, which made him look like he wasn't upset at all.<p>

I watched my friend of four years face from afar, finding myself admiring his sculpted jawbones and cheeks, thick dark eyebrows and that similarly thick brown hair which the girls at school seemed to coo about all the time. When his family finally dispersed (I had a feeling they had noticed me) I began to walk towards him. I felt Prim's hand being released from mine which I was thankful for, yet, I needed some stability as I felt my legs shaking with fear and dread of what would happen to Gale.

When his eyes looked straight into mine, a familiar yet unrecognisable feeling welled up in my chest.

Suddenly, I tripped over and then fell into Gale's arms. Laughter would've ensued had it not been in the situation we were in now.

"A bit clumsier than usual, Catnip," Gale said softly in my ear. Goosebumps exploded across my skin as I righted myself, blushing because of my uncharacteristic slip. What had gotten into me?

"Gale," I said, cutting to the chase as the Peacekeepers could snatch me away at any moment. "Please, don't... lose your temper over the Capitol." Gale managed a ghost of a smile.

"I promise I won't Catnip. I'll do the opposite. Put on a good show," Gale said. Without thinking, I found my hand reaching up at his face and stroking it. I could hear a moan emitting from his mouth which sounded oddly pleasured.

"Win. Win for... for Rory, Vick, Posy, Hazelle. And me," I whispered so quietly that I had to lean upwards so he could hear. I could've sworn he leaned down. His breath on my face was warm and gentle and comforting.

"I promise," Gale said. "I'd do whatever it takes."

Who knows what would've happened if I had been allowed to be with Gale a few seconds longer as Peacekeepers suddenly snatched both of us, yanking us apart with such force I almost fell to the floor. Gale opened his mouth and began to shout due to the distance rapidly increasing between us.

"Catnip, I-"

The doors slammed and I couldn't hear his final words.

* * *

><p>The next evening, most if not all, of District 12 watched the parade. Whoever was Gale's and Madge's stylist must've been a genius.<p>

There was fire blazing behind them which caused an orange light to glow off their faces. I wondered what they had done so they didn't burn under the glowing fire, but nevertheless, their beauty was undoubtedly enhanced by the eerie lighting it gave. Gale was stunning; this was one opinion District 12 and the Capitol had in common. You couldn't deny that Gale had been already handsome and was the talk of the easily excited girls in my District, but now they were practically screaming. So I had to leave the square and return to my house where I could watch the parade in peace.

I hadn't realised that I had ached so much to see Gale's face again because the past day or so had been more tragically difficult to cope with then I had first anticipated. I had never known hunting for game by myself would be so miserable and depressing, especially when I had to hunt for twice as more game. It seemed like the only place I was truly happy was eradicated from me now since my faithful partner was gone.

I couldn't quite comprehend the emotions I was feeling right now. At first, I thought to ask my mother about them but quickly resigned the idea. It would be much too awkward, considering the frosty relationship we held now.

After seeing Gale so radiant and _smiling_ in the chariot, I concluded that it was strange. Very strange. I was scared that as soon as Gale stepped foot into the Capitol's area, he would start shouting and screaming at all the Capitol people saying how they were selfish, naive, foolish. But it seemed he had done none of that considering how the audience had reacted to him. Not to mention Madge too. I always thought she was somewhat pretty, especially when she smiled. But her beauty was now at a different level and the Capitol Citizens were screaming her name (less so of Gale's). I only briefly looked at the other tributes', assessing them, seeing how they compared to Gale and what their weaknesses could be. But I stopped myself. Even if I thought of a few pointers, how on earth would I deliver them to Gale?

I wanted to speak with him so badly.

As I got up to turn off the television as the programme was to end, until tomorrow, I noticed Gale's and Madge's hands entwined.

A stab of pain attacked my heart.

* * *

><p>At times, completely random times, the wound created in my heart reopened again the juices of jealously flowing through my veins. At first I quickly denied the fact I was jealous of Madge's closeness to Gale and simply assumed the hurt was the fact I missed him. But now, it was hard to deny. Even Prim noticed.<p>

"Are you alright, Katniss?" she asked tenderly, her eyes wide with an inquiring nature. I turned to her and put on the best smile I could.

"Of course, Prim," I lied. My untruthfulness was transparent.

"You're lying to me Katniss," Prim said at once. "You can't be alright, Gale is at the Capitol for the Hunger Games and you miss him, of course. You're scared that ... he won't make it." Shocking it was to realise how brutally correct Prim was. Maybe she didn't know it herself.

"All right, clever duck, I miss him," adding her pet name to ease the seriousness of what I was saying, but no avail. Prim knew me better than anyone else... except, maybe Gale. "But he will come back. I know he will. He won't go hungry, as long as there are animals there to snare. There probably will be, otherwise the Capitol would have another boring Hunger Games like the one a few years ago, and water, I'm sure it won't take him too long, he's smart-"

"Katniss, slow down, you sound very panicky," Prim noted. I had. I was speaking my thoughts out loud.

"Sorry, Prim," I said.

"Don't be sorry Katniss; you just don't need to get so worked up about him. I hear you whispering about him in your sleep," Prim added, which alarmed me. Even in this situation, I felt embarrassed and a little mortified. Yes, I did know I did some mumbling while asleep, but I'd always thought I was so incoherent, no one could understand.

"What was I saying?" I asked, a little too quickly.

"Things like 'the water's only a mile away' or 'quick, look out for that career!'," Prim said. But then she clarified: "Though, you didn't sound as alert as I did just then, it was more of a dragged out whisper."

"Oh...I see," The growing blush on my cheeks stopped flaring and began to die down. So I hadn't been saying anything too humiliating. Soon after, my mother called us to watch the television again. Training scores.

Again, I found myself assessing each tribute unnecessarily as if it would help Gale in anyway. I hoped he had the same idea as me and was already picking out weaknesses for potential tough tributes. He had promised he would win. Win for his family. Win for me.

There were a few in the lower numbers, a couple of 6s, a few 7s, one 8, some nines and an amazing ten for Gale. He had got the highest. Was this a blessing or a curse? Usually, the careers targeted the potential threats, which were tributes with high training scores, first so a potential winner could be destroyed. Madge got a seven and I had to admit, that was higher than I expected her to get. Much higher. She was the mayor's daughter, what kind of training or skills did she have which went under survival? None. It's not like she ever needed it.

The programme ended and I went to bed with troubled thoughts.

* * *

><p>Despite the fact the person who enjoyed them the most wasn't here, I picked some strawberries from our protected patch in the woods to sell to the mayor. They were so plump and red and irresistible, so I couldn't let them go to waste. As I walked to his backdoor, I felt a strange sense of apprehension. I wasn't used to being alone when I came here. Gale was always here to watch my back.<p>

The door opened and as soon as the mayor saw the strawberries, he burst into tears. Immediately then, I knew it had been a mistake. Kicking myself for being so thoughtless of his reaction, I quickly mumbled a stumbled reply with an apology. But he shook his head.

"No, I'll buy them," he said. The look on his face was so morose that I felt like the worst person in the world when he gave me money for the fruits. The worst part? He had given me twice more money than usual. I opened my mouth to point this out (perhaps a foolish decision) but the Mayor waved a shaky hand.

"Your friend, Gale, is that right? You need the money to look after his family," he said. I was a little surprised at his knowledge of this.

"Thank you," I said honestly. "Incredibly kind of you, but I still feel that wasn't a fair trade on your part."

"It's fine. You must miss him terribly. Madge has told me about him-" and that's when the tears took over his ability of speech so I left, rather insensitively. But I was left with a lingering prod in my brain; Madge had talked about Gale to her father. What had she said about him? That he was attractive? That he was friends with _her_ friend, Katniss? That she wished for him to be her husband?

That last one was a little unlikely, but perhaps Mayors had the authority to choose husbands for their daughters. In that case, I sure hope not. She was not taking Gale away from me.

* * *

><p>"And here's Gorgeous Gale!" Caesar shouted, using the nickname which had been adorned to my friend almost as soon as he entered the Capitol. I had a feeling that Capitol citizens hadn't seen such natural beauty very much, apart from Finnick Odair of course. But I had to admit, he was off the scale. I noticed how unnaturally, un-Gale like Gale was acting and wondered if his mentor, Haymitch Abernathy who was almost always drunk out of his mind, told him be like that. Perhaps, since Gale's true personality wasn't as nice as this.<p>

Caesar asked him questions about how he received his training score (which I was desperate to know as well) but Gale didn't say a word about it. Then he asked him what his favourite thing about the Capitol was? He could easily answer in his sardonic and sarcastic way but he said that he liked the food. Was the food really that wonderful? Then, Mr. Flickerman asked a question all of the Capitol was dying to know.

"Is there a girl waiting for you back in District 12?" Caesar asked. Gale paused for a moment. In the moment he said nothing, I found myself holding my breath. So I quickly released it, wondering why I had.

"No, but I wish there was," Gale said. My mouth dropped. Was he talking about me? He couldn't have been; there was never anything romantic between us. Only strong friendship. Or had I been wrong?

"I'm sure they're many girls willing!" Caesar Flickerman exclaimed which received a round of encouraging noises from the live viewers.

"There's only one girl that I want, someone who I've known for a long time," Gale said. It was then I realised instead of holding my breath, I was breathing rather quickly, anticipating what he was going to say next. But then it came to me; Gale wasn't the one to reveal personal secrets such as this, especially to the whole nation of Panem. But had the Capitol changed Gale so severely already?

"Come on, tell us!" The host said. It seemed like he was genuinely interested. "Or at least, tell us how you met her?"

"Well, if that's the case, I suppose you'd need to know the back story," Gale said. _Back story?_ I thought. _He'd be revealing that he hunts in the woods and then we'll get into trouble_.

"Our family were poor, we were often starving. I can still remember those painful nights with a stomach so empty, you felt like it was going to swallow itself. " Gale began and pitiful 'oohs' were sounded by the audience and even Caesar himself. "Even after the glorious food here in the Capitol."

"That's distressing to hear. Fortunately, none of us have felt such a feeling so we could only imagine what it must've been like for you. The closest to starvation I've got to was when the food came a tad late at a restaurant I once ate at... not saying the name, they'd be losing customers!" Caesar said. A chorus of laughter followed this lame joke. "Ah, continue."

"We needed the money so my mother worked as a washer woman for other people. She had done for a long time, but since my father died in a coal-mine explosion her workload increased three-fold. This could get us the bare minimum of food and other general necessities, but it wasn't enough. And I couldn't just sit there doing nothing could I? So I helped out," Gale paused and everyone listening waited with bated breath for his next words, including me.

"By... tutoring this girl in my school," Gale said easily, all of a sudden.

"So this is the girl then?" Caesar said. Gale nodded.

Tutoring? Gale? He didn't like schoolwork at all, how on earth could he say he did even more of it by teaching it to someone else? (And tutoring was something unheard of in District 12 because most kids didn't really care as much about their education unlike children in other districts because it wasn't needed if you worked in the mines). Then I remembered that the Capitol didn't know the details of Gale's school and what grades he received so they wouldn't question this. I quickly glanced to my left to see Prim's confused expression. She had the same idea as I did.

"I didn't bother asking for money at first because she had asked me to help. So it wasn't an earning method at first. But her father insisted because I was doing a lot more than he had asked of me and I was pretty good at it. So that went on for a few years until... until she said she didn't need my tutoring anymore. For some reason, I got pretty upset and it wasn't because I wasn't going to get money for the family anymore. So I asked my friend, Katniss who's friends with the girl-"

The first time he had mentioned me in his interview, I realised.

"-what was going on and she said she didn't know. But if I'm honest, I wished she had stopped earlier." Caesar looked a little surprised by this and the live audience made noises of confusion.

"I'm sure we all want to know _why?_"

"Because I fell in love with her," Gale said. Gasps echoed throughout the crowd, all over-dramatic upon hearing this news come out of Gale's mouth. But it hadn't seemed like it came out of his mouth at all. Gale never acted like this. He wasn't one to talk so openly about his personal life. Although, most of what he said was blatant lies unbeknownst to the viewers.

"Who is this girl? We're dying to know!" Caesar Flickerman said, and it indeed looked like he was eager.

"Madge Undersee."

The roars following this almost deafened me, even though the volume wasn't on that high. Was Gale lying about loving Madge? Was this how far he was going to go to win the Games? He had promised me he would. He was trying to gain as much popularity as he could so gifts would flow in more easily to aid him, and he promised me he would try and win but I didn't know it would hurt so much.

The Camera flipped over to Madge who looked genuinely surprised and then she mouthed: "_Oh Gale!_" which irritated me beyond belief.

"Katniss-" my mother began but I was out the door before I could hear the rest.

It was nightfall and there was an eerie chill to the air but I kept on running towards the meadow, towards the woods. I was about to head right under the fence before the tell-tale humming of electricity hit my eardrums before I was severely electrocuted. I fell back as quickly as I could so I was no way touching it, so now I was lying down on the soft and slightly damp grass of the meadow. The moisture seeped into my clothes which pushed through to my skin which made me colder than I already was but I was beyond caring. I felt like my heart had been ripped open, quartered and shredded to tiny pieces.

To my horror, I began to cry.

Endless tears flowed out in a steady stream out of my eye ducts as my brain jumped to massive consequences whose possibility was outlandish. Gale marrying Madge. Gale forgetting about me. Gale leaving me to spend all of his time with her. From then on, I decided Madge and I were not friends. How could we be, when she could be potentially stealing my best friend away from me? My best friend, who I loved... but not in that way of course-

Stop. Who was I kidding? If I only loved Gale as a good friend, then I wouldn't be bawling my eyes out right now, and my heart wouldn't feel like it was non-existent and I would supporting him and wishing for him to do whatever it too. But... couldn't he have tried another way? How could he even pretend that he even loved Madge when I never saw them together and especially after their frosty conversation before the reaping a few days ago? But... I wasn't with Gale every second of the day, was I? Perhaps he secretly visited her and they had conversations, which didn't involve school work, or perhaps much talking at all...

Suddenly, I realised I could no longer release salty tears. Nothing came out when I squeezed my eyelids shut and I knew I had run dry. But now I had a thumping headache and the pain which had surfaced before was still beating hard inside. Under all of these horrible images, thoughts and emotions that I had never experienced before, there was one good thing.

I definitely loved Gale.

Had I told him, perhaps not the day of the Reaping, but another day before that that I loved him, would things be different? It was wrong to consider this though; I wasn't sure about feelings at all before. And I was definitely not the kind of person who would blurt out they loved somebody without thinking over it a while. Mind you, I've never loved anyone like Gale before. That was definitely for sure. While I was mulling over my thoughts, I didn't noticed the soft almost silent padding of my little sister, my little duck, approaching me and without a word, putting her arms around me. I returned the hug gladly, and this eased the pain slightly. Not a lot, but a bit.

"You love him, don't you Katniss?" Prim said. She didn't need to specify the 'he'. It was obvious who she was talking about.

"Yes," I replied. I felt a little uncomfortable talking about such a grown-up topic with such a young girl because Prim couldn't possible understand it. Heck, even I wasn't halfway there of the understanding of love. She understood family love, yes. Most people did. But Romantic love was an entirely new thing, and she wasn't going to experience that in a while I hoped. Because the hurt that ties with it is excruciating.

"Come back inside, you must be freezing," Prim draped my father's hunting jacket around my shoulders and I nestled in the immediate warmth it brought before pulling Prim along with me so we could huddle together.

She could always make me feel better.

* * *

><p>I tried not to think about the interviews too much. When I did, I realised that I was being incredibly silly and <em>girly<em> over the whole thing. Overdramatic. Something I was not. Gale was obviously pretending to love Madge. Make themselves the star-crossed lovers of District 12 (a phrase I heard going around the place) so gifts will be easier to attain in the arena. I wondered if Madge was let on with the whole plan. Most likely. Something about her reaction seemed a little over-rehearsed but fortunately, the Capitol viewers drank it in without suspecting it was lies. Gullible.

"Katniss," Prim tugged at my sleeve lightly and gently, a movement only Prim could do. "Let's go watch the Hunger Games." From the way she said it, she meant going outside to watch it with the crowd, were support could be found if needed. When families of past tributes watched their sons or daughters fight before, they often received many sympathetic looks and gestures along with encouraging words. It looked like it helped.

"No," I replied, nonetheless, realising I was being unnecessarily harsh.

"Why? Are you afraid of what you will see?" Prim asked. I didn't say yes or no, but Prim knew the answer.

"Yes," I replied. I squeezed my eyes shut trying to block out images of Gale's death surfacing through the crevices of my mind but the blackness made them more vivid.

"He promised he will win. He doesn't break his promises," Prim said.

"That's true," I had to admit. Gale never made promises unless he was 100% sure he was going to do them. But how could be so sure he would win the brutal games when there was so many other factors which could prevent that? Finally, however, Prim convinced me to go outside and watch where I found my mother comforting Hazelle. Our eyes met and she sent me a reassuring smile which I thought was entirely unselfish because Gale was her eldest son. So I replied with an even more reassuring smile with the message of 'he'll be alright' passing through it.

Then I turned to the screen.

The Tributes were rising to the ground and the area had some woods nearby. My heart soared; Gale wasn't going to have trouble finding food in there. I watched him, carefully examining the other players before staring straight at the Cornucopia and in particular, a set of bow and arrows. My eyes quickly flickered over to Madge who now I had grown an intense dislike for, despite her kindness towards me only last week and months before. She had a golden pin attached to her outfit which when I squinted, looked like a Mockingjay, with its wings spread and a ring circling it. Expensive and beautiful, the token from District 12 though it's attributes hardly described District 12 itself.

The countdown began. Claudius Templesmith began to count down, in that tension-inducing, low voice which was recognised throughout Panem. The tributes grew tense, while some had stony and determined faces, others looked scared and terrified.

"One,"

All at once, 24 teenagers rushed out onto the field at the fighting began. Averting my eyes away from the bloodbath's gore, I focused on Gale and his actions. Almost killed by a boy from District 10 until he coughed up his own blood and collapsed on a ground. The bow and arrows were out of his reach so he grabbed a backpack and made a run for it. I could just see a fierce looking girl from District 2 throw a knife in his direction and judging by her annoyed face, it seemed she had missed.

Vomit rose to my throat as I continued to watch the screen which bore the still fighting tributes while many lay on the ground with eyes open and dead, their last scream still etched on their faces. The only reason my eyes were still focused on the godforsaken Games was that I was waiting for the cameras to switch to Gale to see how he was doing. But I was afraid of what I might see.

* * *

><p>The days passed, blood and innards of humans not uncommonly seen. The next times, I stayed inside our house to watch them because to be honest, I didn't really want to stand for hours watching a screen with loads of other people making noises which interrupted your viewing.<p>

Sometimes, the programme cut off almost as soon after we saw Gale in a perilous moment which made it so much harder to hunt the next day and keep my aim because my worry for his survival was overwhelming.

After countless failed shots, I would sit down on the uncomfortable forest floor and weep. Which I had been doing a lot lately and disliked. But how could I help it? I'd just seen Gale in a place where he could've lost his life and never got to see if he had. Then again, if I watched Gale die, then I wouldn't know what I would do. Because there were so many things I had to tell him, had to do with him.

Hadn't he always wanted kids? He had to survive, for his future kids. Whoever he had them with. Maybe with Madge. I clenched my fist in anger and jealously. The latter was an emotion I hated with a passion. Did Gale really love Madge? Somehow, I knew it was just for the cameras but the envy could not be ridden of.

Madge hadn't died yet, which surprised me greatly. I didn't care how harsh that sounded. Last time we saw her, she had some food, yet not very appetising, but food it was. It was surprising Careers hadn't gone and attacked her yet because she was by herself with no allies. And what did she know of the woods and nature? Only things from books, if she read them and it was most likely she hadn't.

I got up and then braced myself. This wasn't Katniss. Katniss didn't lose herself over things like this, no matter how upsetting. She also didn't get upset over petty matters such as romance. So I picked up my bow, gathered my fallen arrows, and shot five rabbits, three squirrels and a wild dog. Happy with this haul, I swung my game bad over my shoulder and alone, began to do the usual routine of my morning after shooting some game.

I visited Hazelle and gave her what would've been Gale's share of the game.

"Thank you," she said, her eyes tired but grateful. I gave her a small smile. "I must give you something in return." I shook my head.

"No, you don't have to. I'm doing this for Gale, that's all I need," I said.

"Thank you," Hazelle repeated herself. "Gale would appreciate what you were doing, if he were here."

"He would. I mean, he will, when he comes back," I assured her, but me just saying Gale was going to be victor wasn't enough to make Hazelle stop worrying. Last time we saw him, he was running out of water and food and was injured albeit not severely, but it hampered his walking pace.

"You miss him a lot, don't you Katniss?" she said, gesturing for me to sit down, which I did. And a steaming cup of mint tea was placed in front of me. I sipped it.

"Yes, but it hardly compares to how much you and Rory, Vick and Posy miss him," I said. Hazelle sat herself down next to me.

"That's because you miss him in a slightly different way than we do," she said. I turned to look at her, momentarily confused. But then I realised. Hazelle could see how much I loved Gale. I quickly drank some more mint tea so I wouldn't have to speak but ended up scalding my tongue. I didn't show this however. Then, after much deliberation, I asked Hazelle a question which had been picking at mind for months, without me even knowing it.

"Does Gale love me?" I asked her. Not as a friend. As a partner. Lover. Girlfriend, as they called them. But that made it sound insignificant.

"Yes," Hazelle said. "More than you would think, Katniss." I nodded before swallowing the rest of my tea, ignoring the roaring pain in my mouth. Thanking her for the beverage, I left their house feeling slightly better than I had that morning.

* * *

><p>"Thank you Gale, for taking care of me,"<p>

"You don't need to thank me; I want to keep you alive,"

"But you're doing so much for me, and you're injured yourself-"

Madge was broken off by Gale's lips.

Why was I watching this in the town square? I could barely handle the soppiness of it all and the kisses just gave me tears in my eyes, no matter how hard I tried to prevent them. I wondered what Hazelle thought of Gale's new kindling romance, whether or not it was false. I certainly didn't like it at all, because I was finding it difficult to see what Gale truly felt in his eyes. He was indeed, putting on a good show, like he said he would. Since the time of his most dire moment, he had received helpful weapons, luxurious food and medicine. All since he teamed up with Madge and they began the star-crossed lovers act for real. Kissing, intimate moments, caresses of the faces.

It just made me sick.

So when Madge was speared in the chest by the violent girl from 2, I didn't know quite what to feel. The Mayor was nowhere to be seen, but the emotions he must've been feeling were clear, even if his face couldn't be seen. I felt horrified when I suddenly felt relieved that Gale's lover was dead and there would be no more sickly romantic moments between them which the Capitol adored. When I saw how quickly Gale dismissed the fact Madge had died, I suddenly feared for his popularity going downhill. It was soon realised that it didn't matter.

Only Cato, the boy from District 2, was left and the situation they were in allowed very little room for helpful gifts. And everything was so unbelievably expensive now; even the richest of the rich weren't paying for aids.

The whole of District 12 were enthralled by what was going on the television screen as today was surely the last day of the Games. One of them was to be crowned victor. They were both injured, Cato with a slashed leg and bruises all over his upper half and Gale with heavily bleeding hands and arms, but everything else was relatively unscathed. Gale's medicine was way back at his camp in a cave and Cato didn't look like he had anything else other than the weapons he was carrying.

So it was down to whoever lost the most blood first.

I was half-expecting them to both slowing down the blood flow of their cuts so they would be basically standing there stemming the blood flow, but they weren't those type of boys. The look on Gale's face was determined as he stared at Cato. I wondered if a replay of the promise Gale had made me to win was going on in his head. Was that what was spurring him on? The fact he couldn't break his promise? Or was it that if he won, he could see his family again? See _me_ again?

Providing the kisses with Madge hadn't made him forget about me.

The fighting began. Gale had a sheath of arrows, three but no bow. He had a knife, however, Cato had a larger one. Knives were waved around like swords, handled like swords. Gale had an obvious unfair disadvantage because of the size of his 'sword' but this didn't stop him deflecting the slashes Cato's knife made and aiming to stab Cato in the gut. Which he managed to do. But at the same time, the blade of the opposing knife slashed his face and both of them fell to the ground. Blood was flowing freely and the fight had taken all of the energy out of them both. So now, it was like a contest of who would lose all their blood first.

The sight of Gale's marred face and literally red clothes made me feel that Gale might not win. Cato had less cuts than he did, so less opportunities to let the blood flow.

I was losing faith in Gale! Why was I being so negative? Gale... wasn't going to die. He wasn't.

"Get up!" I screamed at the overly large television screen. "Get up and fight!"

The stares I received hardly bothered me. They weren't watching their best friend die in the arena, were they? But it made me think twice about watching this here instead of back home.

Maybe it was the trick of the light, but I swear I saw a flicker of recognition over Gale's face when I shouted. But he couldn't have heard me. Nonetheless, he began to rise, ignoring the screams of pain he was surely feeling. The crowd of District 12 spurred him on as he walked over to Cato, who watched his enemy come over to him, with no attempt to get up.

With no warning, the Cato's knife was speared through his heart. Boom. Trumpets blared. Claudius Templesmith announcing the end of the 74th Hunger Games.

Gale had won.

* * *

><p>The wind was icy cold and bit my skin like snake fangs but I didn't recoil. I stood straight and patiently waited for the Capitol train to arrive along with the Hawthorne family and my own. Prim's hand clutched mine tight and when I turned my head, she gave me a smile which I happily returned. I had never known a moment when I found it so easy to smile.<p>

I looked over to Hazelle and the kids who were holding each other's hands tightly and small, nervous smiles graced their faces. I realised that I felt nervous too. Gale had acted so differently on the television screen while he was in the Capitol, as if he was an entirely different person. A small part of me feared for the idea that Gale had changed and wasn't the person I knew. The person I loved.

Finally, the train settled in the train station after coming to a halt. Cameras spewed out of the doors, then Effie Trinket, Haymitch Abernathy and finally Gale.

His scars from the Games were all gone so he looked like the boy, I mean man, who was reaped for the Hunger Games all those weeks ago. His face turned and our eyes met.

I don't know what came over me. Perhaps it was I hadn't seen him for so long. I had planned to wait and talk with Gale before we did anything new, but that went right out the window once I saw him. Unnatural boldness overtook me as I ran forward. Gale's arms opened for a hug, but that's not what I wanted. My hands flew up to his face and full on the mouth, I kissed him.

Seconds, minutes, hours. I don't know how much time passed when I finally broke away from Gale. I was still in mid-air as his strong hands were holding me by the waist. I looked around briefly and realised all the attention was now on Hazelle, who was nervously speaking to the cameras. My eyes looked into his grey ones which I had missed so much.

"Thank you for keeping your promise," I whispered.

"I never break them Catnip," Gale replied before kissing me again.

* * *

><p><strong>I would like to write much more, but this is a pretty long one-shot already and I've got way more than enough words! <strong>

**Constructive criticism is welcomed so review!**

**P.S. By the way, I do like Madge. And I'm glad Gale didn't actually get reaped for the Hunger Games because obviously, that would change the whole story! **


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